You might be aware of the big 1UP layoffs, where 1UP (Ziff Davis) got sold to UGO and then UGO sacked the majority of the staff. Anyway, a bunch of the guys got together immediately after and started up the Rebel FM podcast (coz they used to do 1UP FM) and the guys that used to do the 1UP show are working on something too (but they talk on the Rebel FM podcast as well).

Rebel FM = www.eat-sleep-game.com

(Not the) 1UP Show = www.talkingorange.com

Anyway, on the second show of Rebel FM, half of it was taken up with the guys talking through (on the spot) their top 3 games of 2008 (plus honourable mentions and things they missed). So I thought that'd be fun for us to do. I sent an email around to some of my friends, and here are the results.

Striek's Top 3

1. Gears Of War 2 - Xbox 360

2. God of War: Chains of Olympus - PSP

3. Professor Layton and the Curious Village - DS

Should have been top 3, but didn't start playing it till this year:

Fallout 3 - Xbox 360

Should have been top 3, but didn't have anyone to play it with (Besides SS84/SS75):

Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360

Honourable Mentions

Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin - DS

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - Xbox 360

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - Xbox 360 Arcade

Games that might have made it if I'd had the time:

World of Goo - PC

Lock's Quest - DS

Bionic Commando Rearmed - Xbox 360 Arcade

Braid - Xbox 360 Arcade

Castle Crashers - Xbox 360 Arcade

Space Invaders Extreme – PSP

Games that I wish I'd had time for:

The World Ends With You - DS

Chrono Trigger - DS

Fable II – Xbox 360

Mirror's Edge – Xbox 360

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix – Xbox 360 Arcade

Patapon - PSP

Loco Roco 2 – PSP

Well, I was supposed to mention my Top 3, plus a few others, but I've ended up listing 22 games here. So rather than talk at length about my choices, I'll keep it super short.

My Top 3 are the Top 3 because they were the only games this year that drove me to finish them as quickly as possible.

Cookienut's Top 3 (Who broke the whole, it must have been released in 2008 rule)

Half Life 2 Orange Box: I've almost finished Episode 2 but man is it one hell of a game. Probably one of the best games of the last few years. Probably the best single player fps I have ever played. Yes possibly even better then Halo: CE...but I reckon that is more of a tie.

Gears of War 2: This was awesomeness wrapped in bacon. The whole game was a treat but especially the last half. so many wow moments. Plus the visuals...yikes! Ok the story wasn't that great and the characters are pretty shallow...but that's exactly the way you make a game feel like a kick ass movie. In fact playing through it is better than watching a good sci fi movie.

Braid: For me this has been one of the greatest games of all time. Simple, then not so simple, intuitive and completely different. Think of crossing Portal with Back to the Future with a  sprinkling of Van Gogh. I know I have only played half of it and mainly in just one sitting. Playing this late at night with the lights off with just headphone on is like watching art unfold. I will finish it soon again, hopefully in just one more sitting. It makes you think...but in a good way :)

While I admit my gaming pedigree is not the same as say Striek or Vellan, I have really enjoyed 08 in terms of gaming. The biggest triumph was finally getting BB. Finally being on LIVE is so awesome.

I'm looking forward to Halo Wars, finishing GOW2 on Insane, maybe even a PS3 if all things go well. But my biggest thing for this year will be having a kid. I'm not sure how much gaming I'll get in once that happens but I hope to do plenty. Plus JB is getting married. It's all happening!

Hopefully gozznut will get back to playing some games and we can meet up online...because it's never fun without Gozz.

Vellan's Top 3

1. World of Warcraft (WOTLK)

This comes in at #1 purely because of the time I have invested in it.  Of course, all my friends are shmucks who refuse to play.

2. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Part One.

A truly awesome game.  Mime!Cthulhu?  You guys don't even know who HP Lovecraft is, but trust me, it's *hilarious*. 

3. Assassin's Creed.

Not an excellent game...I mean, it was highly repetitive, but I needed some stealth as Conviction was pushed back.  But then I went back to playing Chaos Theory.  Still, Assassin's Creed did follow the Rule of Cool.  Walking up to a guy, knifing him and then disappearing into the crowd makes you feel pretty invincible.

sicvy001's Top 3

1.     The Darkness

2.     Gears of War 2

3.     Grid

Now… before we get to Gozznut's Top 3, or lack of Top 3'ness, I thought I'd simply list the games that made our Top 3's

-          X360 - Assassin's Creed

-          X360 - Half-Life 2: The Orange Box

-          X360 - Gears Of War 2 (3 of out 4! The only multiple vote winner, I would have voted for Orange Box too though, but I kept my list to 2008 releases only)

-          X360 - Grid

-          X360 - The Darkness

-          X360 Arcade - Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Part One

-          X360 Arcade - Braid

-          PC - World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

-          PSP - God of War: Chains of Olympus

-          DS - Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Okay… so now to finish…

Gozznut's Top 3 (or the discussion which ensued)

22/01/2009 9:46AM

From Gozznut

Lol.

JB, what percentage of your money and time goes to Gaming? Hahaha

It'd be good to see you add something to your live.space blog finally. Although I haven't added anything other than photos since August, but I think your last post was November 2007?

I've got GOW2 from Vince at the moment. I haven't played it. I need to get Grid back from him and finish that. And I'm also toying with the idea of getting GTA4 but I don't think I'd ever finish it. It might be good for multi player though?

22/01/2009 10:30AM

From Striek

So Tom, basically your list for last year tom would be…

The three games I played in 2007.

1.       Grid

2.       ??

3.       ??

Though you did get that PSP didn't you? Didn't play any games on it? You can pick up GOW:COO for $19 these days, and that's my #2!

Unfortunately not much of my time goes to gaming Tom, that's why I only finished a few games this year! These days I'd be lucky to get 2 hours per week on average.

22/01/2009 10:35AM

From Cookienut

Ha! You'll have to borrow mine. I've stopped playing GTA4 for quite some time. I'm almost 60% through but I just don't play it. Infact I haven't really done any gaming for the last couple of weeks. It's not a self imposed gaming hiatus, it's just that I really haven't been bothered. I have had many dvd's to watch and felt more compelled with that.

I know what you mean about losing time JB...I hate getting older for that very reason. I wish I was still 18 to 20 and going to Uni. Yeah, I had no money but heck life was easier. Plenty of time for games, socialising and such. Not any more though! My kid better be awesome at games.